Ajaipal Chahal ‘20 comes from Santa Clara, California and graduated from Santa Clara High School. At home, he loves to spend time outdoors and go on scenic drives with his friends.

At Dartmouth, Ajai is currently involved with the Great Issues Scholars program, the South Asian Student Association, and the Rocky Entrepreneurship Business and Leadership Club. He serves on the national board of directors of Sister Cities International as the youth representative where he works to build bridges across cultures.

As a First-Year Fellow, Ajai interned at the Truman National Security Project under the mentorship of Michael Breen ‘02. The Truman National Security Project is a network of leaders united in the challenge to create and advocate for smart policy objectives for the nation. Founded after 9/11, the organization has a focus on shaping the future of American foreign policy and national security. During his internship, Ajai completed various small research projects on foreign policy issues and helped prepare for Truman’s annual conference “TruCon.” Specifically, he worked with a team of interns to ensure the logistics of the conference ran smoothly and with Truman members to help them research for their session.

According to Ajai, “One memorable project which I worked on with two other interns and a Truman member was creating a threat modeling system for authoritarianism. My research was focused on instances of authoritarianism in Ukraine.” He found working on projects to be an incredibly rewarding experience. “Working on these projects gave me a greater understanding of the demands and expectations of a policy workplace. The projects were often done in collaboration with other staffers and interns, allowing for the opportunity of learning from one another and the exchange of thought-provoking ideas.”

Ajai’s experiences have inspired him to work towards a career in government and international relations.